okay im 22 ( obviously im overweight idk if that has anything to do with it though )

ive been loosing alot of hair at first i didnt mention it to anyone because i thought it was all in my mind .... but 3 people have mentioned to me TODAY ALONE that my hair looks thinner ... i recentley ( less than a month ago ) had complete blood test run i am completely clean of STD's , abnormal cells/growths sugar and cholestrol are at perfect levels thyroid came back normal ( T levels but sonogram showed some minor enlargements ) ... im not stressed about anything out of the ordinary .. vitamin B12 and D are low ( so says the doctor but how important can they really be? alot of people are low in those two it seems ) and im anemic ( ive known that for a while though ... )

why am i loosing so much hair please help me .. idk what to do ... is it time to chuck it up and go buy a wig ? my hair has always been super thick now its regular/slightly thin if this continues ill be bald soon ! ( this has been happening for like 2 months now )

idk how much of what im getting to be honest ... i count my calories but thats about it .... i dont really pay attention to much else i do eat some junk food here and there ( if i can calorie budget for it ) ... maybe i can try eatting more protiens ...

it helps to know im not the only one ...

and no i did not mention it to the doctor because it started happening a little after the blood tests where done i havent been back scince .... i will make an appt to see him soon though because im getting so worried im almost in tears !

its shedding, not comming out in clumps ... i really dont know what to do im so scared that there will be nothing he can do and ill just loose all my hair .... it was my pride and joy and somewhat of a security blanket for me and now its leaving me =(

B-12 and D deficiencies can cause you to be very sick-- that is how "unimportant" they are. (irony) People who live at certain latitudes (40 degrees north and up) can be D deficient in a few years. Basically if you are deficient, you have probably been "getting" defficient for many years. D is a fat soulable based vitamin and is stored for many years, so if you are deficient, you have not been getting it for many years. Overweight can cause vitamines to be absorbed poorly, as it is a "fat soluable" vitamin, it is stored in fat. Additional fat keeps things that need fat as a "highway" from getting where they belong. The stuff you take that is good for you is just sitting there, in the adipose tissue not going anywhere. B-12 deficiency causes de-myalization of nerves and is a terrible way to go. It is not "trivial." One of the symtoms of B vitamin deficiency is "hair falling out." B is water souluable and that means you need to take it every day either in green vegetables or in suppliments. My hair was falling out for a time, and I got B-12, and B-6 suppliments and started to take them every day. It took a while but my hair stopped falling out. I was also putting unnatural chemicals on my hair (dye, perm) and stopped that all together, prefering the natural look now. My hair is strong and thick now, but still does not grow very long.

Doctors generally don't deal with vitamins and nutrition. They are there to perscribe drugs and fix bones and stuff with leaks. You should see a nutritionalist.
At something-fishy.org you can find a partial list of what may go wrong if you do not take enough vitamins.

I did a little bit of googling and it looks like deficiencies in both Vitamin D and B12 have been linked to hair loss. (It seemed to be more anecdotal than scientific, from what I saw). At any rate, I wouldn't just blow off the deficiencies in either of those vitamins; my doctor was shocked at how low I was in Vitamin D and put me on supplements immediately.

Don't blow off the anemia either. I did that when I was a teenager and ended up in the hospital getting blood transfusions. It's nothing to mess around with; I had to take iron for years after that. I don't remember losing any hair but why not get the vitamin deficiencies and anemia addressed and see if that doesn't help?

Yep.... I was severely Vit D deficient and my hair was starting to thin too. It DOES make a difference... as I can imagine B12 does as well. Start supplementing.

Also... like someone said above... eat more protein!

And, I might add.... the proper fats. Olive oil, good butter, etc... I take fish oil pills and they've helped immensely! My hair is even shinier!

And, like Windchime said.... don't blow that stuff off. Consider your body a machine... a few cogs out of whack and the whole thing starts running funny! Take care of those things now, while you're young and can bounce back!

If you are not eating enough, that also could be responsible. And I agree with other posters about B12 and D deficiencies being possible causes and definitely important. Not enough D can cause your bones to weaken.

I have read that iron deficiencies can also cause hair loss. I am losing a lot of hair lately too and I asked my doctor to have my ferritin (iron) level checked. I haven't seen the results of the blood work yet. If you are anemic, that might be causing the problem; you should talk to your doctor about it.

I lost a lot of hair while doing a low-fat vegetarian diet years ago. So I don't know if it was the low-fat or the lower protein that did it. I suspect that it was the lower protein levels, however, I know when calorie counting it's so easy to keep the calories low by cutting out fats and oils. And as Jay mentioned, what target are you aiming for? If your calories are too low for your activity level you could be stressing your body, which may also affect your hair. I know that some people do well on lower calories, but not everyone does (ie. I'm one of them).

Oh, and do you take a daily multi-vitamin? I never used to, but make a point to since I know I'm eating fewer calories than my body wants (ie. to lose weight).

I've read that we need at least 30 grams of protein per day although the US RDA is about 50. Those levels should be attainable for anyone eating a well rounded diet, even if you happen to be vegan like myself. I eat a fairly low fat diet as well although the fats I do get are high quality fats.

i would say its more the likely from your weight loss .. how quickly did you lose the 40lbs that you lost?? i have two friends that just had weight loss surgery the one had complications from it and has lost 50lbs in 3 mos and her hair is SUPER thin like your describing .. the other day i straightened her hair and i think i had as much hair on my lap as he had on her head .. i wouldn't worry to badly because as quickly as its falling out its starting to grow back in so you shouldn't go completely bald that is what my Dr. told me after my son was born because my hair fell out horribly bad .. if you don't think its from your weight loss though i would definitely get in to see your Dr. good luck keep us updated!!

ok wow i got so much great feed back ... thank you all SO MUCH .... i had no idea how important those vitamins where ... im not sure my exact calorie target but i know i eat 30 WW points which i average is maybe around 1600 give or take a hundred? i dont think its eating to little ( and these days i have slipped up once or twice by alot ... ::damn you ginger snap cookies and eggnog ! :: lol )

as for the amount of time it took me to loose the 40 pounds i started being serious about this whole lifestyle change ( as in attempting to put an end or at least limit the binge eatting in about march so i didnt loose the weight quickly at all in fact it was unbearably slow to me ... )

on the multivitamin thing no i do not take a multivitamin ... i will pick one up at target on friday ... i was wondering ( im NOT pregnant ) are prenatal vitamins safe to take ? or is it specifically designed only for pregnant women because i was looking at one the other day and it has 156% of the daily recommendation of iron ( which i could use ) and high Percentages of B12 and D .... so i was thinking maybe this would be better than a regular multivitamin because theres higher amounts? but idk if there where other things in the prenatal vitamins that could make me sick?

btw thank you ALL for your help i seriously feel more hopeful about fixing this now THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!!

oh and im going away later tonight. i wont be able to get online from where im going ( i dont think ) so in advance HAPPY THANKSGIVING and evreyone have a safe black friday ! lolSz :P <3